Lawrence in dreamland as City youngster never imagined winning at Wembley with Luton

Hatters attacker Emilio Lawrence admitted that back when the season began in August, he could never have imagined for a second that he would be winning the Vertu Trophy for Luton Town at Wembley Stadium.

The 20-year-old began the campaign with his parent club Manchester City, actually playing three times in the competition for City’s U21s as they beat Oldham Athletic 5-1, but then lost 3-0 to Bolton Wanderers and 4-2 against Rotherham United to go out in the group stages. In January, Lawrence made a loan move to Kenilworth Road for his first taste of senior men’s football, as having instantly made his League One debut in the 2-1 victory over Stevenage, he then had a spell out of the side as he acclimatised to his new surroundings.

Back in for the 1-1 draw at Port Vale, the Scotland U21 international has become a first team regular in recent weeks, helping Town reach the final as they faced fellow third tier side Stockport County in front of just under 50,000 fans on Sunday. Lawrence went on to have a huge role to play in the first half, as with the Hatters trailing to Adama Sidibeh’s 11th minute strike, he raced through on goal after being freed by Jordan Clark’s inviting pass to slam a left-footed shot through the legs of Corey Addai and restore parity.

Lawrence had scored his first senior goal against County when the two teams met at Kenilworth Road last month, so on his second coming at the home of English football, he said: “It’s a special moment. It’s the stuff you dream of as a kid, playing at Wembley, playing in finals, so to score is just even more incredible, it’s something that I’ll never forget. It’s crazy to think at the start of the season I was playing in this competition for City’s 21s, then fast forward a few months I’d be winning it at Wembley with Luton, so it’s crazy how football works.”

Asked what he thought when he saw Clark with the ball, and then it eventually fly into the net, Lawrence continued: “To be honest, I just remember screaming at him to give it and as soon as the ball was coming over I just knew I was going to push it out in front of myself and go for goal straight away. I went off my head to be honest, I didn’t really know what I was doing! I didn’t really know how to react, but it was a special moment and that will stay with me forever.”

It was clear that having scored against the division’s other Hatters previously, cutting inside and rifling a wonderful shot beyond Addai on that day, then the County defenders had clearly been warned about the threat Lawrence possessed, doubling up on him during the early stages. Although frustrated to see his route to goal often shut down, the youngster had to take the extra attention as a positive, stating: “I did feel like that, I felt like at times when I was on it, the winger or centre mid would come over and shut down the one cutting inside.

"I got a shot charged down when coming inside earlier on in the game, so I thought it was just time go with the left and thankfully it worked. You take it as a compliment, it can be frustrating, but after the game, I think it’s a compliment. That’s something for me to work on, how to deal with stuff like that, so it’s a good thing.”

Although Town had been trailing to Sidibeh’s early goal, they never once let their heads drop, as Lawrence’s leveller was followed up by Nahki Well’s brilliant control and finish on 39 minutes from Kal Naismith’s pass to deservedly put Jack Wilshere’s side 2-1 in front at the interval. On such a dominant opening half of football, Lawrence continued: “We all definitely felt we were the better team, we were a lot more in control of the game than they were, even when they scored.

"It was really good from us the way we reacted, stayed playing our football and the opportunities were always going to come. We always felt like that, but the main thing was to stay calm and we did. It was a great finish, a great touch from Nahki as well. I didn’t doubt him in front of goal in that position. Not a bad cele from him too, I’m not sure where he was running, but a great performance from him.”

After the break, County to their credit did come into proceedings more, as the closing stages saw two vital actions, goalkeeper James Shea spectacularly repelling Josh Stokes’ close range header onto the bar and away, before Wells was on target again to quell any nerves and secure the silverware in the first minute of 10 added on.

Lawrence, who had been replaced by this time, is hoping that the weekend is not his only visit to such an impressive venue, adding: “It’s a final, when teams are chasing you they’re going to be throwing everything at you and in times like that it’s just important we stay strong defensively, which is what we did. Sheasy, he had his moment, which he more than deserves. He’s been great throughout this competition for us, so I was really happy with him for that save.

“I think we all had our hearts in our mouths a little bit, 10 minutes is quite a lot of time, but as soon as the third went in, it was all sit back, smile for the last few minutes and just enjoy what was happening around us. It is what you play football for moments like that. It’s just something me and the boys are just so buzzing to have. Hopefully we can be back here in the play-offs as well next month and do the same again.”